Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
Open Access

Abstract

Cultural Tourism Potentials of the Dorze Village, Southern Ethiopia

Etalem Tegegn, Desalegn Amsalu* and Tamirat Tefera

This paper aims to present and discuss the potential tourism resources of Dorzé village in southern Ethiopia. The research was conducted in 2018 through qualitative methods. Field data were collected by field observation and interviews with tourists, local community, local tourism experts, local tour guides, as well as local potters’ and weavers’ association members. Thematic analysis technique was used and the results were qualitatively described with some supporting photographs. The findings of the study revealed that Dorzé village is endowed with worthwhile cultural tourism attractions. The Dorzé handcraft tradition such as hand weaving, pottery work, and elephant-shaped house building, cultural festivals, traditional music and instruments, and the process of making food from false banana trees and culinary experiences are identified as the most important cultural tourism resource of the village. On the other hand, lack of tourism infrastructures such as road, bank, water, and electric power supply is identified as a stumbling block for cultural tourism development of the area. Besides, the lack of accommodations provision is identified as the other bottleneck of tourism development in the area. The research suggests that local and national tourism stakeholders need to work on local cultural tourism resources to increase the cultural tourism significance in Dorzé village.

Published Date: 2020-08-14; Received Date: 2020-07-24